Thank you.

Thanks to everyone who has commented on, has read, or is about to read my previous entry. I really appreciate all of the feedback. As evidenced by the conversations I’ve had with several people recently about the topic, arguments about it can go in thousands of directions (kind of on different planes of a circle with more offshoots coming off of it…). While trying unsuccessfully to be brief, I was careful to try to speak only of my own experience – even though it appears to be representative of many others’ also (perhaps not that of women who do “like” it…which I believe just represents a different set of problems).  Man, is it complicated.

The post was about a specific kind of harassment – it was not about every man, it was not about men who are earnestly interested in getting to know you, it did not assume that any person who dares look at you is a letch. It is about those who think it is acceptable to forwardly judge every woman sexually, albeit in an attempt at complimenting the woman or, more often than not, in just a straight-up degrading manner, even when the recipient makes it clear they are offended or not interested in being spoken to. I can’t imagine that men would enjoy being forced into awkward, scary, or uncomfortable situations by strangers on a daily basis, even if it was not sexual. I am sure that most of these guys that behave this way don’t even understand why it is upsetting and wrong. Not everyone can be cursed with the same level of self-awareness that I suffer from.  The fact that this issue is so far ingrained in our culture as “how it is,” and has become so institutionalized is why I think we still need to talk about it, even if it does feel hopeless.

Again, thanks.